Eye of the Tiger
by LittlePlagueSpirit
Summary: The story of Isabella and her father, Oscar Garcia. About his life as a firefighter, Isabella dealing with his death and how his memory sparked her fire to shine again. First in the Parent Series.


**Disclaimer: Jeff "Swampy" Marsh & Dan Povenmire own this universe and it's stars. **

**A/N: Hello readers old and new, here am I again, now in the P&F world. This is my first story in 'The Parent Series', a collection of tales centured about the different relationships between parents and their children. More information will come with the new stories. Now for this one: although I very much like the 'leaving us in the dark about what happened to the missing parents', I felt like this story had to be written. Because Isabella is so much more than just 'the girl across the street', the first story is about her. **

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Chapter 1: The Fire

My dad was a very passionate man. Maybe it didn't look like that on the outside, but it was absolutely true. Everything he did, he said, he loved to do. "Isabella", he said when I sat on his lap, "if you don't do what you love, what you do will be empty and meaningless. Make sure everything you do is filled with love and care."

"Even things like cleaning my room and eating Brussels sprouts?" I always asked confused.

"Even that," he said with a nod. "Even the most simple things like those who seem stupid, pointless or without meaning can have the biggest meaning of all to you."

"How then?"

"So that you can look back on those moments and think 'yes, I liked doing that'. Even if you didn't at that moment, if you had had put at least a little bit of dedication and care in that action, than you can never regret doing it. Life is too short to do things we will regret Isa, so we better make sure that we fill it with as much love and care as we can. Do you understand that, my little _m__í__a_?"

When he looked down to me, I nodded to him and said, "I understand it, daddy." And than he would smile and hug me, softly whispering kind words while I enjoyed his warm and safe arms around me.

In truth, I didn't really understood what dad meant by that. To me it was just one of those lessons that adults learned you like 'look closely before crossing the street' and such. But since my dad kept telling me this and it seemed so important to him, I always tried my best to remember his words. And since I loved him so much, it wasn't that hard for me to do.

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My dad was a very passionate man. His biggest passions in life were his job, celebrations and his family. I have seen pictures of my first birthday where my whole room was crowded with balloons and flags and flowers, with my dad standing in the middle holding me and wearing a big smile. And without those acts it wasn't hard to see the love that he felt for mom and me.

His other passion was more hidden, and when people heard about it, it always surprised them a bit. Why would such a kind loving man seek the danger of burning flames? Dad would answer them that passion doesn't only means that you need to do what you love, but also to do what is important. He wanted to mean something to others, and since fires always fascinated him, it was not more than normal to him to become a firefighter.

And being a firefighter means that he had to go into the fire.

At first I wasn't really afraid of fire. Mom always was afraid, not of the fire, but for daddy. I knew fire was dangerous because I could hurt myself if I touched a burning oven, but I never had seen one of those 'fires' that my dad apparently fought.

That changed when I was 5 years old, and my dad took me on his free day to the fire station. I remember him holding my hand as he pointed to all the tools that hung on the walls, explaining when to use them and how. I was holding a fire hose in my arms when suddenly a loud siren went off.

Before I knew what it meant, a group of firemen came running in, already dressed up in their suits and getting their tools as quickly as possible. I recognized the suit as the one my dad wore at work, but I didn't realize what was going on until the moment that my dad was told to get into the fire engine. Apparently the men still wanted my dad to come with them to give orders, even though he was off duty.

Dad looked at me for a moment, but then nodded and placed me in the fire engine. During the ride my heart was beating like crazy. I was going to see a real fire, a big, dangerous, fire for the first time in my life. It felt a little scary, but exciting too.

When we arrived at the burning building, the men got out of the truck faster than lighting. They all immediately ran off to clear the area and get the hose ready. I was told to stay in the car, but even from there I could see the fire that was raging inside the old flat. Flames were coming out of the windows, smoke filled the sky and I heard the fire make this loud roaring sound, like an angry tiger.

That sound only brought shivers down my spine. I never knew fire sounded like that, or looked like that, or could be that big. My hands started to shake and I whimpered. _Run!_ I wanted to scream to the men. _Get away,_ _you can get hurt! Run!_

And suddenly I noticed my dad standing not far from the fire, watching it with crossed arms and a stern gaze. He didn't look scared of the smoke or the heat or anything. He just stood there, speaking to the other firefighters about the flames while keeping a close eye on it. He didn't even flinch when one of the big windows of the flat broke with a loud pang.

That image of dad calmly standing there was so strong that all my fears somehow disappeared. He wasn't scared of the fire at all. He stood there, keeping control over everything that was happening. He seemed to know exactly how to put the fire out. He even turned around and waved at me with a reassuring smile.

Slowly, I released the breath I was holding. _Daddy is going to fix this, _I thought. _He knows what to do, so I'm sure things will be okay. Dad will make sure of it. Everything will be all right. _

And it did. Everything was all right with dad around. He always came home safely. After that day that he took me with to the fire, he told me about it, where it had been today, how big it was and how they had managed to put it out. I learned a lot about fire that way and those lessons made me always feel safer. Fire was less scary with this information.

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My dad was a very passionate man, but sometimes mom said that he was it a bit too much.

I never understood her when she said that. What wasn't there to like about daddy's passions? The big and fun filled parties were the best parties ever, and I loved all the hugs and kisses he gave me. And he was a great firefighter who wasn't afraid of anything. What was wrong with that?

Apparently, a lot more than I thought.

Now I'm older, I understand mom a little bit more. Dad was a man who went to the fire station when he was off duty. Who jumped into the fire engine at his own birthday party. Who went to the fire even if his young daughter was with him. At those moments the fire was more important than anything. Even me.

Not in a bad or a workaholic kind of way! He never headed into the situation without thinking. But that day at the station was an example of what kind of man my dad was. A very passionate man, but sometimes a bit too much.

But that wasn't bad. As long as everything stayed okay and he got home safe, nothing was wrong. As long as my dad was there, everything would be all right, just like I always knew.

Yet that didn't stop one of dad's colleges calling mom one day to tell her in tears that he didn't know how to tell her this and that he was so, so sorry, but daddy was dead.

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**A/N: Sorry if I brought the ending kind of blunt, but the 'how' and 'why' will be explained in the next chapter. When I started thinking about Isabella and her dad, a firefighter was one of the first things that came up, because Isabella herself is a very determined, independent and strong girl, and I always admired firefighters and thought those traits fitted them well. Besides, since Isabella couldn't have gotten everything from her mom, her dad must have had a hand in this. **

**But enough information: thanks very much for reading! Review? **


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